Last year one of the evening activities at Creative Arts Camp was led by Heather Vogel Frederick an author of outstanding books for young adults and a wonderful writing teacher (see here).  She gave us only a few minutes to write a poem with the prompt “I am From.” Below is my result from that brief activity and as an initial reaction, it captures a lot.  I am resurrecting it unedited and posting it here at the request of others who had also done this exercise.  If you haven’t done it yourself, give it about five minutes and you’ll be amazed at how well the result encapsulates the myriad essence of where you are from.  No one knows it better than you!

I AM FROM

I am from orange next to fuschia, turquoise and purple
      from girl scouts
      from the mitten state
      and from a doctor dad and an artist mother.
I am from rebellion rich and clumsy
      from compassion and hope of peace
      from the proton physics lab
      and from mountains jagged and steep.
I am from peanut butter and popcorn
      from luscious paint and scissors
      from sitting in the sun smelling peonies
      and from crisp October skies fringed in yellow.
I’m from driving a stick shift
      from loving babies and being pregnantly happy
      from homemade macaroni and cheese with skim milk
      and from Marabou chocolate in Scandinavia.
I’m from propping up skyscrapers on a scaffold 40 stories up
      from bike riding and long camping trips
      from the subway through the South Bronx
      and from perching on boulders alone in a quiet forest everyday.
I’m from the trajectory between atheist and Christian Science Practitioner.

Polly Castor
09/08